MEMS Series Switch with Nanometer Wide Gaps in Suspended Coplanar Waveguide Transmission Lines

Author

Ketterl, T. ; Weller, T. ; Rossie, B.

fYear

2006

fDate

11-16 June 2006

Firstpage

255

Lastpage

258

Abstract

A MEMS switch with sub-micron wide air gaps, milled into suspended center conductors of CPW transmission lines using focused ion beam milling, is introduced. The gaps were milled at an angle to produce two independent overlapping and electro-statically actuated cantilevers. By applying a voltage to the upper electrode, the gap ( ~ 0.1 mum) can be closed to provide a signal path in the series switch. When the bias is applied to the lower electrode, the isolation can be increased. An insertion loss of less than 1 dB and isolation greater than 20 dB were measured from 1 to 23 GHz

Keywords

cantilevers; coplanar waveguide components; focused ion beam technology; micromachining; microswitches; microwave switches; nanotechnology; 0.1 micron; 1 to 23 GHz; MEMS series switch; cantilevers; coplanar waveguide transmission lines; electrostatic actuator; focused ion beam milling; microwave switches; nanometer wide gaps; nanotechnology; suspended center conductors; Air gaps; Conductors; Coplanar transmission lines; Coplanar waveguides; Electrodes; Ion beams; Micromechanical devices; Microswitches; Switches; Waveguide discontinuities; Ion Beams; Microelectromechanical Device; Microwave Switches; Nanotechnology; Switches;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Microwave Symposium Digest, 2006. IEEE MTT-S International

Conference_Location

San Francisco, CA

ISSN

0149-645X

Print_ISBN

0-7803-9541-7

Electronic_ISBN

0149-645X

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/MWSYM.2006.249481

Filename

4014874